2014 - AHMED GABR - 332.35m Deepest Scuba Dive

200 meters training dive

Ahmed, a TDI Instructor Trainer and a highly experienced scuba diver, is attempted in 2014 to break the world record currently held by South African diver, Nuno Gomes.

Ahmed was an officer with the Egyptian Military, having graduated from the Military Academy in ’94. He continued his career by joining the Special Forces, the Egyptian Rangers and eventually earned a scholarship to the USA Combat Diver Course.
After beginning his diving career in ’94 at the age of 18, Ahmed dived for his pleasure before getting his diving instructor certification in ’96. He continued to dive both for pleasure and work, all the while developing the physical and mental abilities necessary to complete a world record dive.
The plan to break the world record started for Ahmed in ’10, at which time he began his training. Unfortunately, training and goals had to be put on hold due to the political situation in Egypt and, Ahmed’s responsibilities as an Egyptian Military Officer.
When the urgency of the political situation began to subside, Ahmed resumed his training for his world record dive. His training regiment includes physical and mental preparedness achieved through activities such as cardiovascular and meditation exercises.

WORLD RECORD DIVE - THE STORY OF AN EPIC JOURNEY TO 332.35 METRES

Ahmed Gabr, an Egyptian technical instructor trainer, smashed on the 18th of September 2014 the world record of the deepest dive on open circuit. The GUINNESS BOOK OF RECORDSTM officially certified Ahmed’s record at a depth of 332.35 meters off the shores of Dahab, in Egypt’s South Sinai.

Ahmed beat the previous official Guinness world record held by South-African diver Nuno Gomez, who dived to a depth of 318.25 meters in June 2005 off the coast of Dahab also.
After months of intense training, both physical and mental, Ahmed started his descent on Thursday the 18th at around 10:30 and descended along a line to his intended depth of 350 meters. It took him a mere 12 minutes to reach the depth of 335 meters, where he collected a tag stamped and witnessed by the Guinness adjudicator and marking the max depth he reached. It is at that depth that, having started feeling tremors in his hands and arms, Ahmed secured the tag and decided to turn around and start his long and slow ascent back to the surface.
During his 824 minutes long dive (a bit less than 14 hours), Ahmed only spent around 40 minutes alone in the water ; from the descent to his ascent back to 110 meters, where Jaimie Browne, his first deep support diver, was waiting for him to secure his empty tanks and provide him with new gas mixes to breathe. During the whole dive, Ahmed breathed mixes of trimix, nitrox, oxygen and air specially prepared for him and his dive profile.
At 110 meters, Jaimie, who descended to meet Ahmed with a video camera, secured Ahmed’s tag and collected the evidence necessary for Guinness to validate the depth and potential record of Ahmed’s dive. The two divers ascended together until Jaimie could hand over Ahmed to his next support divers.
Around 12:30, the surface support team received the first news stating Ahmed’s state (excellent) and depth and could at least relax a bit, and cheer. Surface operations were conducted by Oliver Watkins from two boats with military precision on support diver’s entry and exit from the water, and amount of tanks going in and out with which mix.

Between 14:00 and 15:00, the Guinness adjudicator Mr. Talal Omar announced that he validated the dive’s evidence but would only officially announce the depth after Ahmed’s safe return at the surface.

Four hours into the dive, Ahmed finally reached the deco ladder, a ladder going from the surface to 30 metres made of horizontal bars at 3 metres intervals, where Ahmed and his support divers could keep their depths comfortably and even clip tanks. Ahmed continuously received pouches containing various liquid mixes to hydrate and mashed fruits and vegetables to eat and keep warm.
At 21 metres, a team of support divers met Ahmed to help him get rid of his quad 20 litre tanks and replace it with a lighter sidemount X-Deep gear on which clipping and swapping tanks was much easier.
The rest of the dive went without issues, cadenced by the constant succession of support divers and gas tanks (more than 70 only for Ahmed), until late in the night, since Ahmed only surfaced at 00:15, in great shape and smiling. During the last 5 hours of his dive, Ahmed and his support divers were surrounded by a baby oceanic white-tip shark, attracted by the boat’s lights.
Back on board after the dive, Ahmed thanked his friends, team, family and sponsors for making his day and his life. He got out of his drysuit to rehydrate, get a quick check-up from doctors and then spend the rest of the journey back to shore chatting animatedly with his team. At the marina, hundreds of people were cheering and sending fireworks to celebrate the safe return of a true hero. On shore, his family came on board and he received his official Guinness certificate for deepest scuba diver (male), having reached an official depth of 332.35 meters due to a slight inclination of the rope.
The story of an officially amazing diver.

Over the course of the training dives the support team (diving, planning and land) has had to grow to enable the logistical success of Ahmed's deep dives.
Our support team blends in a lot of different characters and divers from various background and experience levels: tec divers, dive instructors, IT experts, commercial divers, free-divers, photographers, and not to forget drivers and carriers to make these deep dive events run as smoothly as possible. Our success is a team that works well together and uses each and everybody's skills and competences. Our dedication to this success is enormous.

IN THE NEWS!

Latest news and most recent press releases on the World Record Attempt!